lead vs lead-free/silver solder

[Philippe]

which type do you prefer? having used both, I've found that tin/lead solder flows better than silver solder & there have been fewer instances of having to re-solder/re-check potentially cold solder connections when using 60/40 tin-lead solder...most likely due to its lower temperature requirements. ecology & personal health issues aside, ROI solder seems to require a bit more attention to detail + added time. whether this is a good or bad thing probably depends on the assembler/builder & his/her time allocations. *included the female gender though I have never known of or heard of a 'notable/significant' female guitar fxs designer/builder* given a choice, using the traditional 60/40 solder on such a small scale (i.e. diy projects) can't be any worse than all of the pollution being generated by mass industrial endeavors.     

[Brisance]

Unless you want your product certified, it's not like someone's going to lick your boards so lead solder for the win.

[suncrush]

Leaded solder is barely easier to use than lead-free.  To me, the difference is like going to the trouble of washing lettuce to make a ham sandwich better.  I have kids, and I don't need the fumes, so I use only lead-free.

[Electric Warrior]

If you're worried about the fumes, you should switch to leaded. Fumes contain as good as no lead at all. But flux is really nasty stuff and lead free needs more flux, burning at higher temperatures. http://www.wellerzerosmog.com/health_risk/#lead

[Ben79]

included the female gender though I have never known of or heard of a 'notable/significant' female guitar fxs designer/builder*

Fran from Frantone is a female....look!



Then there's Devi of course...

I use leaded but I am constantly anxious that I might one day poison myself.  I do love the smell though.

[amptramp]

Leaded solder for me.  Lead suppresses the tendency for tin to grow whiskers that may short out connections.  Silver does not.  Also, the soldering temperature of tin-silver solder is higher and without strict control of the exposure time, it may damage components.

There has been a suggestion that tin-silver solder is responsible for some automotive defects like uncommanded acceleration due to whisker growth but most automotive boards are conformal coated, so it may be just an urban legend.

[Philippe]

Ben79...thanks for the gender update/builder info. 'back in the day' (USA 1950s through 70s) most of the industrial PC soldering & harnessing work was performed by women as they are said to have a better eye & touch for detail plus they apparently don't get as bored/distracted as men when performing repetitive procedures. *i'd imagine they'd make better dentists too*   

[R.G.]

This question comes up over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over making it clear that the search function is not used. Whether that's because it doesn't work (I think search does work, although "preview" doesn't and hasn't for quite a while) or whether each new person starts wondering about the question anew and never thinks it's been asked before is very hard to say.

The facts are:
(1) Lead is a toxin.
(2) Tin-lead solder contains metallic lead as an alloy and inorganic oxides of lead. These are the forms of lead **least** likely to be absorbed into the body. The really nasty lead compounds are the organometallic versions, where a lead atom is attached to a carbon-bearing anything.
(3) In my previous life I was treated to OSHA-inspired lectures on industrial hygene, and one of those factoids is that lead in small quantities as a byproduct of soldering operations even in a continuously operated wave solder operation is not all that likely to be absorbed. Simple precautions like not eating solder, not spreading lead paste on your sandwiches, not cooking lead into (especially!) lead acetate and then eating it, not inhaling lead fumes at above the boiling temperature of lead, and ... washing your hands after handling solder cuts the risk to negligible. While OSHA didn't cover hauling your kids around with you at an industrial wave soldering machine, I'm guessing that much the same precautions would work.
(4) Lead acetate and other lead compounds used in lead bearing paint are real, no $h!t problems to kids, but have been outlawed in the USA for half a century, and few people solder with lead-bearing paint.
(5) Solder flux fumes are irritating to the breathing apparatus. Note the word "irritating". Non-electronic fluxes are a different issue altogether, but electronic rosin flux is fairly innocuous unless you inhale the fumes for some hours.
(6) Lead has been politicized to the point of insanity.  A really bad thing to do for/to your kids is to live in a house built before lead plumbing solder was outlawed, use chlorinated water to eat into the lead, and use soft water so lead-calcium deposits don't block migration of lead into the water and get converted to more easily absorbed organic forms. There's not much of a movement to go rip older lead-bearing soldered pipes out of old houses. But we have made people afraid to consider using tin-lead solder in ways that are unlikely ever to be eaten or breathed. True believers of the hysteria won't even listen to things like this. We live with bug spray, aerosol paints, drain cleaner, and other chemicals that are truly, clearly poisonous. But we (collectively!) worry endlessly about tin-lead solder.
(7) Lead is not the only toxin. It's just an easy one to deal with and it even has positive uses. There are things like ricin, botulinism, tetrodotoxin and a few others that head up the toxicity lists. Unlike lead, these winners are ALL NATURAL! ORGANIC! and in many cases LOCALLY PRODUCED!! Destroying angel mushrooms and their ilk are widespread. Done a backyard survey recently?

Sorry. It just rubs me wrong when people wring their hands on something for which the handling precautions are well known. That gasoline that goes into your car, or the electricity that goes into it if you're truly devoted and think that carbon is the enemy, is truly poisonous, as in kill you dead, quickly. Tin lead solder is one of those things that you wash your hands after using, and don't chew on for fun.